We actually want challenges so our faith grows strong. Wow, how cool is that?
I had a really challenging dream and lots of challenging panic attacks last night so I’m pretty weak today. But, that’s okay because…
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10
Boy, I live off these types of teaching. I just love how Jonathan builds us up by showing us the tremendous advantage challenges offer us. Rather than running from challenges, he encourages us seek them out. Wow, that’s revolutionary and so uplifting. We don’t need to fear challenges, we need to develop an attitude of embracing them. Amen!
Lots of other Jonathan teachings talk about facing off against fear and how he’s seen God show up time and time again to deliver him from evil and fear. That inspires me and keeps me fighting the good fight of faith. Knowing the Lord’s with me is everything.
Below is the transcript of Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s message excerpt, “The Resistance Secret.”
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The Resistance Secret
By Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn
The principle of exercise, something we’re aware of in the physical realm, but it’s revolutionary when you take it to the spiritual realm. And that is, how do you get into physical shape? You exercise. You use your muscles, you use your heart. The more you use it, the stronger and more healthy you become.
So how do you become spiritually fit or spiritually strong? You use, you exercise your spiritual muscles. The more you exercise your faith, the more faith grows. The more you exercise forgiveness, the more forgiveness grows. The more you exercise worship, the more worship grows.
Something so simple yet something so radical.
If you don’t exercise these things, they shrink. God made the body so that if you don’t use something, it gets less, and weaker. And, that’s true in the spiritual. If you don’t exercise the things of the Spirit in your life, they get weaker.
But, here’s another very important key.
Exercise, generally, while there’s different kinds, but this is one of the most key, most basic kind involves resistance.
You must flex your muscles against something, you must move against something that is hard to move. The more powerful you want to become, physically, the more resistance you need in the exercise.
Therefore, if you want to grow spiritually strong, you have to involve yourself with resistance.
What is resistance? Resistance is whatever blocks your way, whatever resists your way, whatever is hard to do, hard to move, hard to lift, hard to press.
What’s hard? Well, for instance, problems are. Problems are resistance. Trouble is resistance. Challenges are resistance. Obstacles are resistance. Things not going your way is resistance. That traffic jam is a resistance. Trials, when people are coming against you, that’s resistance. Testing in the Lord is resistance. Difficulties, hardship, when things, you know, we want things to go our way all the time, but it’s when things don’t go our way, that’s when we have resistance to grow stronger.
The things that are hard to do are what gives you strength in the end. The very things we complain about are the very things we try to avoid, the very things that make us stronger in God if we apply it.
One of the reasons many Americans are out of shape is cause they try to avoid any kind of strenuous anything. Any heavy labor, anything labor saving all the time. We have all these labor and time-saving devices, and we have no time. How did that happen? We should have all the time in the world, but we have no time.
You know, we got a car at one point and the light didn’t turn on automatically when it got dark out. And it was like, “Wow, how could this not happen?” We never had that before. But now, you get used to not doing anything at all. We have GPS so we don’t even have to think anymore. You know, what happens to your brain?
Many Americans are out of shape because they’re trying not to have any resistance, any kind of labor. And so, they end up being fat, and weak, flabby and unhealthy.
In the spiritual realm, think about it, we seek to avoid resistance, or problems, challenges. We want life to be smooth, everything to be smooth, but you’ll get weak in the Lord.
We think the most successful life is a problem-free life. That’s not so. It’s not. Paul didn’t have that and he was successful. That’s the very life that keeps us weak, and flabby and unhealthy in the Spirit.
The very resistance you have in your life is the very thing that will allow you to grow stronger, better, higher. If you didn’t have problems, you’d have to seek to have problems so you could have something to give you resistance if you want to grow strong. When you’ve got problems, instead of seeing it as a problem, say, “This is my resistance training. These are my weights. I have to lift them with the muscles of the Spirit.”
Now we say, “No pain, no gain.” Well, I don’t know if it has to be that, but no resistance, yes.
It says in the Bible, “We persevere…” (as in 2 Peter 1:5-7). And as we do it, things grow in us. We get fruits of the, we get all these qualities by persevering in the Lord.
You know, sometimes the very things that happen against even, you know, God calls you for something, there’s resistance that comes and we think the resistance is bad. But, the resistance allows you to exercise God’s Presence in the situation.
For example, if you have hate around you, that’s when you can exercise, truly, the love of God. And so you’re actually given the chance to show that. And when you exercise, you’re actually choosing to have resistance, you’re actually choosing, “I want this weight in my life.” Why? So you can get stronger.
And so, that’s the point here…
One of the key things about exercise is it has to be regular and consistent. That means you have to in your life, if you want to grow, you have to say, also, “Listen, I don’t want to just stay where I am, I want bigger challenges in the Lord. I want challenges.”
It’s not just about avoiding challenges, I want challenges. That should be our attitude if we want to grow.
What does it mean to have challenges in your life? It means to choose, listen, here’s a challenge that’s going to stretch me more than I’ve ever been in the Lord. Or, my challenge is I’m going to spend more time in the Word than I ever have before, I’m going to witness more, I’m going to share the Word more, I’m going to be more. That’s the challenge. Take it up, if you want to grow stronger, you have to take on the challenges. And, stop avoiding challenges because that never will make you stronger.
And you have to say, “The object in my life is not to avoid any discomfort. My object in my life is to do the will of God. And I’m actually going to look forward to dealing with challenges because they are for my good and in them, I can grow and manifest the power of God.”
And so, from here on in, I’m actually going to look forward to dealing with challenges. If that’s your attitude, you’re going to have no problems in your life. Why? Because every problem is not going to be a problem in your life but a challenge for your own good.
That’s a whole different attitude, but what a better attitude. That’s an attitude of advancing and not retreating because through whatever challenge I deal with, I will become stronger. It changes the way you deal with it. If it’s just a problem, “Oh no, it’s just this problem again, and it’s happening again, and/or this person’s talking about me. ” Now, these types of situations are just challenges and I just need to do the right thing. “Lord, show me how to exercise my faith here. Show me how to have victory here, show me how to exercise Your love here.”
And when you get that done, then you can move to a higher level. So don’t fear challenges, but embrace challenges in the Lord for the joy of victory, for the growth God wants.
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God bless you all,
Mark
